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| You are going to need some basic software,
which every business uses. This is known in the software
industry as “horizontal software”, meaning
that it can be used for any business in any industry.
I would recommend a program such as Microsoft Office,
which includes Microsoft Word (for word processing) and
Excel (for spreadsheets). Note that you can also purchase
Microsoft Office Professional, which will include Microsoft
Access (a database program) and PowerPoint (used for making
slide presentations.) You won’t need Access unless
you plan to be doing some simple database programming
of your own. PowerPoint can be useful if you want to make
slide show presentations, for prospective investors, to
train office staff and/or cleaning staff, etc. |
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| Note that there are alternatives
to Microsoft Office these days. WordPerfect Corporation
has excellent software, for example. Also, there is now
a popular program called Open Office, which is available
for free, and becoming more popular as time goes by. |
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| The most important choice will be your
choice of specialized software for your house cleaning
business. (This is known as “vertical” software
– it is created for businesses in a specific industry
– such as house cleaning, home health care, exterminating,
trucking, hairdressing, etc.) |
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| There are a variety of companies that produce
software specifically for the residential cleaning industry.
Search in one of the major search engines (Google, Yahoo,
MSN, etc.) for terms such as: |
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Maid service software
Residential cleaning software
House cleaning software |
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| One company you'll find in your searches
for maid
service software is Thoughtful
Systems of Brooklyn, New York, who have been producing software
for the cleaning industry for over 25 years. |
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| You’ll need to spend some time evaluating
the various programs that claim to be suitable for your
house cleaning business. Here are some points to consider: |
| 1) How long has
the company been in business? |
| A company that has been in the business
of producing specialty software for your industry for
a long time is more likely to still be around in a few
years, when your business is growing, and the fast-paced
computer industry continues to innovate and change. Will
the software company that produces the software of your
house cleaning business be around, and be offering an
upgrade of their software for the latest version of Microsoft’s
operating system? |
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| 2)
Is the software user-friendly? Will it be easy to learn? |
| Will you have to attend time-consuming
seminars (in person or on-line) in order to learn how
to use the software? Or is it pretty intuitive, easy to
learn, easy to become familiar with? |
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| 3)
What kind of support do you get with your purchase? |
| There was a time in the computer software
industry when various manufacturers offered free support
for the life of the product. One of the most famous of
these was the WordPerfect Corporation. At the time of
the release of version 5 and version 5.1 of WordPerfect,
you could call WordPerfect in Utah with any question concerning
the use and configuration of the software. Support personnel
were knowledgeable and friendly and spoke English well.
If you were put on hold, you had the pleasure of listening
to WordPerfect Radio, with a DJ spinning songs, and periodically
informing you of the expected wait time before your call
would be answered. Another notable company was Crystal
Reports, which offered callers the choice between 5 different
types of music – jazz, rock, classical, country
or easy listening – while you waited on the phone
for their excellent, knowledgeable support staff to answer
your questions. |
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| Nowadays, free support for life is a part
of history. Whatever software you purchase, you can expect
to pay something at some point for support. Software development
companies charge a certain up front price for their software.
If they didn’t have an ongoing stream of income
from ongoing support contracts, they wouldn’t be
able to pay their support personnel to provide answers
to your questions and fix problems that may arise in the
software. Most companies providing maid service software
will offer some sort of free support with your initial
purchase. Some offer limited support for a certain number
of hours; some offer free support for an initial start-up
period – one month, two months, three months, etc. |
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| I am personally suspicious if a software
company offers free support for life. No company can afford
to provide reliable, professional support for any complex
software system without receiving some sort of payment
from time to time from its users. |
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| People don’t expect to receive free
service for life for their cars, their washing machines,
their TV sets or any other piece of equipment. You should
expect also to have to pay something for support. Just
find out in advance what you should expect to pay, whether
it will be month to month or year to year. |
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| Find out what sort of issues will be covered
by the support, whether it’s free or paid. Will
the support contract include answering your questions
about how to use the software (training), as well as questions
concerning other issues concerning the software? Or is
training and tuition considered separate, another service
that you have to sign up for separately? |
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| 4)
Is the company that offers the software a professional
computer software company? |
| Or is it a maid service company that designed
some software for itself, and then decided to try to market
it to other companies in the same industry? |
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| It might seem like a good idea to purchase
software form another maid service company. They would
know about what is needed for a maid service company,
after all. Wouldn’t they? |
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| Well, the answer to that is: Perhaps. My
experience has shown me that no two house cleaning businesses
are run the same way. Each one of the hundreds of businesses
I have worked with has its own particular needs, problems
and other differences. |
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| If you purchase a software program that
is designed by another maid service company, the software
will be designed around that company’s way of doing
business. This might not be yours. Look for a software
program that can be adapted to your way of doing business.
Don’t get trapped in the strait jacket of another
person’s particular way of running their business. |
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| 5)
Does the company providing the software offer customization
services? |
| You may find that you need to have your
invoice formats changes, or a new Work order (Job Ticket)
designed, or have some other special need. Some companies
will not modify their software for you at all, or otherwise
will charge so much for customizations that it wouldn’t
be worth it. Other companies have more reasonable prices
for customizations. |
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| 6)
Is there a guarantee with the software? |
| Some companies offer a return period –
if you don’t like the software during your trail
period, you can return the software for a full refund.
Other companies don’t offer such free trial periods.
Ask about it. |
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| 7)
Last, but not least: What is the price of the software? |
| I have found that many people think about
price first, when thinking about what software to choose
for their house cleaning business. However, you can’t
judge a software program solely on the initial purchase
price. You need to think about the cost of the software
to you over several years. Find out what your total costs
will be for the first three or four years of your business.
|
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Is there an additional charge for enhancements
and updates?
Is there an additional charge for training?
What is the cost of annual support? (And is there a special
charge you’ll have to pay to reinstate your support
contract if you allow it to lapse for a month or two?) |
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| Some companies have a starter version of
their software that you can begin with. Then, as your
residential cleaning business grows, you can update the
software, and move to the next highest level of the software. |
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| Good software will save you a lot of time
in your business. Having the right software means you
don’t have to re-write customer details each time
you send your maids out. It also means you can save details
concerning your customers’ likes and dislikes, thus
allowing you to provide better service, and reduce the
number of customers who cancel their service because their
wishes are not being met. |
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| Also, the right software for your house
cleaning business will include time-saving features, such
as mapping, which allows you to provide your cleaners
with detailed directions of how to get to clients’
houses. This saves your workers time, and saves you money,
as you’ll probably be paying them for travel time.
Some companies also provide cars to employees. |
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| At the same time, your software should
include, at a minimum, the following modules: |
| Customer Information |
| Accounts Receivable |
| Job Scheduling |
| Payroll |
|
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| Each of these modules saves you time, makes
you more efficient, and allows you to provide better service
for your customers. Without proper software, you or one
of your employees will be spending several hours a week
maintaining accounts, preparing invoices, managing complex
job schedules, preparing payroll, and more. If you save
only 10 hours a week (that’s 2 hours per day), you’ll
be saving 520 hours a year. And if you pay your office
employee only $10 per hour; that represents a potential
saving of $5,000 per year – just in terms of time
saved. Add to that the fact that with the right software
you’ll have better customer retention! The value
of that is impossible to estimate. |
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| I have seen just one aspect of a program
save a business owner many hours per week. For example,
one maid service operator purchased a credit-card processing
module, which integrates with their residential cleaning
software program. Before using this feature, the owner’s
husband was spending at least 10 hours a week running
credit cards through a manual machine. After implementing
the automated credit card module, he had to spend only
a few minutes per night running through all the credit
card charges for the day. |
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